Details of formal complaints re academy brokers. Also names of academy brokers

The request was refused by Department for Education.

Dear Department for Education,

The schools minister, Elizabeth Truss, answered a question by Kevin Brennan MP on 25 April 2013. She said the Department for Education had received six formal complaints about academy brokers.

I should be grateful if you could publish these complaints in full.

I should also be grateful if you could release the names of all brokers employed by the Department for Education since May 2010.

Yours faithfully,

J Downs

Department for Education

Dear Mr/Ms Downs

Thank you for your recent enquiry. A reply will be sent to you as soon as possible. For information; the departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses should be sent within 20 working days as you are requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2013/0035409

Thank you

Department for Education
Ministerial and Public Communications Division
Tel: 0370 000 2288

show quoted sections

Department for Education

Dear Ms Downs,
 
Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 4^th
June. You requested: 

a)    The six formal complaints about academy brokers received by the
Department for Education are published in full.

b)    The department release the names of all brokers employed by the
Department for Education since May 2010. 

I am dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(“the Act”).

 The department holds the information you have requested.  However, I
consider that the following exemption(s) apply to your request:

Section 36(2) (c)

Section 36(2) (c) provides for information to be exempt from disclosure
where disclosure under this Act would otherwise prejudice, or would be
likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs.

The Act obliges the department to respond to requests promptly and in any
case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request.  However,
where an exemption is applicable, the department must consider whether the
public interest lies in disclosing or withholding the information.  In
these circumstances the Act allows the time for response to be longer than
20 working days.
 
In your case the department estimates that it will take an additional 12
days to take a decision on where the balance of the public interest lies. 
It is anticipated that you will receive a full response by 11^th July.  If
it appears that it will take longer than this to reach a conclusion, we
will keep you informed.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.  Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications. 

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the department by writing to me within two calendar
months of the date of this letter.  Your complaint will be considered by
an independent review panel, who were not involved in the original
consideration of your request. 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office. 
 
Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2013/0035409. If
you need to respond to us, please visit:
[1]www.education.gov.uk/contactus, and quote your reference number.

Yours sincerely,

Janet Draycott
Academies Group
[email address]
[2]www.education.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.education.gov.uk/contactus
2. http://www.education.gov.uk/

Department for Education

Dear Ms Downs,
Thank you for your request for information about academy brokers, which
was received on 4^th June.
 
You requested: 

a)    The six formal complaints about academy brokers received by the
Department for Education are published in full.

b)    The department release the names of all brokers employed by the
Department for Education since May 2010.  

I am dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(“the Act”).

The department holds the information you have requested.  However, I
consider that the following exemption(s) apply to your request:

Section 36(2) (c)

Section 36(2) (c) provides for information to be exempt from disclosure
where disclosure under this Act would otherwise prejudice, or would be
likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs.

The Act obliges the department to respond to requests promptly and in any
case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request.  However,
where an exemption is applicable, the department must consider whether the
public interest lies in disclosing or withholding the information.  In
these circumstances the Act allows the time for response to be longer than
20 working days.

We are still considering your request and the department estimates that it
will take a further 7 days to take a decision on where the balance of the
public interest lies.  It is anticipated that you will receive a full
response by 25^th July.  If it appears that it will take longer than this
I will keep you informed.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.  Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications. 

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the department by writing to me within two calendar
months of the date of this letter.  Your complaint will be considered by
an independent review panel, who were not involved in the original
consideration of your request. 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office. 
 
Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2013/0035409. If
you need to respond to us, please visit:
[1]www.education.gov.uk/contactus, and quote your reference number.

Yours sincerely,

Janet Draycott
Academies Group
[email address]
[2]www.education.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.education.gov.uk/contactus
2. http://www.education.gov.uk/

Department for Education

Dear Ms Downs,
Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 4^th
June 2013.   We have dealt with your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (“the Act”)
 
You wrote:
 
The schools minister, Elizabeth Truss, answered a question by Kevin
Brennan MP on 25 April 2013.  She said the Department for Education had
received six formal complaints about academy brokers.

You requested that:

these complaints be published in full and

the names of all brokers employed by the Department for Education since
May 2010.

Providing any details about the nature of the complaints, aside from that
already made public in the responses to parliamentary questions tabled by
Kevin Brennan, which can be found on Hansard at:

[1]http://www.parliament.uk/business/public... ,

would risk identifying individual cases and therefore jeopardise the
confidentiality afforded to the complainant and the subject, and would be
prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs, and therefore it
is being withheld under section 36(2) (c) of the Act, which exempts
disclosure of information if in the reasonable opinion of a qualified
person (a Minister in the case of Government Departments) would otherwise
prejudice, or be likely to otherwise prejudice, the effective conduct of
public affairs.

A Minister has decided that, in her reasonable opinion, disclosure of the
broker complaints would be likely to have this effect and therefore the
exemption in section 36(2)(c) applies.

Section 36 is a qualified exemption and therefore a public interest test
has been carried out. In doing so the following factors have been taken
into consideration:

In favour of disclosure is that:

o Release of the information could be in the public interest on the
grounds that the information would demonstrate that wrongdoing had
been effectively dealt with.

However this must be set against the disadvantage of disclosure. 

o Such disclosure would make it more likely that individuals or
companies that were asked to offer advice in the future would be
unwilling to do so. 

The information you have requested above regarding publishing complaints
against brokers in full is being withheld Section 36(2) (c).  We have
concluded that the balance of the public interest test comes down in
favour of retention of the information you have requested because:

o Releasing this information could hamper the delivery of current
government policy which the government has been democratically elected
to deliver.

Names of companies and individuals contracted by the department can be
found on Contracts Finder (www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/)

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the Department by writing to me within two calendar
months of the date of this letter.  Your complaint will be considered by
an independent review panel, who were not involved in the original
consideration of your request. 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
Department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office. 
Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2013/0035409. If
you need to respond to us, please visit:
[2]www.education.gov.uk/contactus, and quote your reference number.

Yours sincerely,

Janet Draycott
Academies Group
[email address]
[3]www.education.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.parliament.uk/business/public...
2. http://www.education.gov.uk/contactus
3. http://www.education.gov.uk/